Saturday, 29 June 2013

Welcome to reveal day! I had a thought (at least one a day is good for you!) about creating a Blog Hop /Challenge where people would design and make a piece (or pieces) of jewelry that reflected the country where they live (or were born in). ( I know that's too many parentheses but it's how I think)!
I decided to plan it around Canada Day which is July 1 and July 4th , Independence Day in the U.S.A.. The response I've had has been phenomenal considering it's my first time attempting this and my blog is still a baby!!!
I hope you have fun hopping and seeing what everyone has created! The list is below.
I have had several fabulous ideas about pieces to create but so far none of them have worked out in reality. It's been a fun exercise thinking about my fabulous country and what objects symbolize it for me. There are many things that are distinctly Canadian and you may not be aware of them so I will share a few here.

Canadian cuisine! What's that you say? Here is a great post on the subject from a blog I enjoy. Several foods have originated in Canada but the one that stands out and is quite trendy at the moment is Poutine! This is a high fat, high caloric, high cholesterol French Canadian treat which combines french fries, cheese curds and gravy!

Delicious and featured on many menus in Toronto which has fabulous eateries. I have heard it's becoming popular in NYC and Chicago! So keep your eyes open for a taste of Canada coming your way in the future. For this challenge I wanted to make a poutine brooch using polymer clay but it turned out to be too big of a challenge for me . I've only just started experimenting with Polymer clay and have found the learning curve quite steep! I made some Canuck food jewelry but I'm not quite finished so I will post them later in the day.( poor showing for the host, eh?)

This picture shows my failed clay cane which was supposed to become a beautiful white trillium which is the official flower for my province of Ontario. As you can see I have a long way to go before I can make jewelry from polymer clay canes!!!

Hockey used to be a Canadian sport but it has expanded south of the 49th parallel and has become an international sport. I still like to think of it as Canadian. Lacrosse was originally a native Canadian sport that was adopted and adapted by Canadian arenas to make use of the rinks during off season for hockey. Similar to hockey but played in summer with netted sticks ,rubber balls and hunky men running in shorts!!! Pretty exciting game too! Of course having a boyfriend in high school who was a lacrosse star added to my excitement. I spent many hot, sultry summer evenings watching the boys attack the little black ball and each other. Have I mentioned it's a more violent game than hockey?
I attempted to make a lacrosse stick brooch but got stumped with the netting!

The more I have reflected on what makes Canada Canadian ,the more ideas I discover. The only difficulty has been translating these ideas into jewelry. Even though I created this blog hop I'm afraid I haven't met the challenge very well. I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created for their countries.
I'm still struggling with the concept of a Bieber Bangle!!!!! In a certain age group all over the world he is our most famous Canadian!

Here are this years participants with their Blog and their country of inspiration.

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Toltec Jewels has issued this challenge/ blog hop for us to express our interpretation of Summer Elements. It has been a revealing exercise for me and since I've been thinking so much about Canada these days in preparation for my own upcoming Blog Hop I decided to talk about what summer is like here in:

CANADA, THE GREAT WHITE NORTH

"We get summer here too, and it is so beautiful!"

For me ,summer officially begins with blooming of the Sakura cherry blossoms in High Park across from my apartment in Toronto and continues with the stunning views of the gradual greening of the city and always magnificent rainbows visible from my apartment overlooking the park and Lake Ontario! I can count all the sailboats taking advantage of Toronto's beautiful waterfront,sometimes there's over 100! Of course Nelson loves the sun, the breeze and the view of our pool!

One of my favorite traditions of summer is going to see the Toronto Blue Jays, our "Boys of Summer" at the stunning Roger's Centre (which I still call the Skydome) at the foot of the world famous CN Tower. My son and I share a love of baseball.
It's especially fun on sunny days with the dome open.We has a great day in June.

As wonderful as summer is in Toronto I am looking forward to cottage country in August. I have the privilege of spending a week every summer at a little piece of heaven in the Rideau Lakes region of Ontario. Two of my oldest friends, Sandie and Pat, have included my BFF, Tish , and me in their celebration of summer at their rustic family cottage and we always have a fabulous time. Summer is not complete until we make the road trip to Sand Lake!
Beautiful lights , sounds and views are the summer elements evocative of this sublime experience! I don't have a lot of my own pictures of cottage time because I'm usually too blissed out to bother taking pictures. I've Googled several images all of which represent summer at the lake for me.I hope you enjoy my summer elements and learn a bit about Summer in Canada!

Loons! Beautiful with a haunting song that echoes over the lake and instantly relaxes me!

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

I've been thrilled by the response to my invitation to participate in my Blog Challenge/Blog Hop!
The idea I came up with is to make jewelry that reflects or symbolizes the country of your home or that of your ancestors. I hope all the participants will tell a story about their country and what has inspired them in this challenge,It's so exciting to have participants from all over the world.
The reveal will be on June 29th which is just prior to Canada Day (July 1) and the USA Independence Day (July 4). The response has been wonderful. Below is the list of all the wonderful folk who have decided to be part of my inaugural Blog Hop! Check back on June 29th to see what everybody has created!

Thanks and Hugs to the incredibly generous Dini Bruisma of Angaza By Changes for designing the badge! It's perfect Dini!

I'm new to the blogosphere having just started blogging for Lori Anderson's 7th Bead Soup Blog Party which was an incredible event with more than 500 participants from around the world creating jewelry made from bead soup sent to them from another jewelry designer. What a great introduction to the wonderful world of jewelry bloggers! I had so much fun and have met some wonderful people so this is my way of giving back!!!

I'm working on creating pieces of Canadiana to gift to randomly selected participants in my Blog Hop!

I can't wait to see all of the creations on June 29th!

Maybe next year I'll be organized enough to match participants up to send their creations to others in a great international exchange.

Here are this years participants with their Blog and their country of inspiration.

I'm going!

2015 Polymer Clay Challenge

About Me

I discovered jewelry design after trying out a few crafts including. bead stringing but when I discovered wirework there was no going back and from there I have moved on to working with wire and metal in most of my creations. My aim is to create unique jewelry which reflects my artistic vision. Now that I have retired I can spend all of time creating jewelry art.